Cannibalism

In a wonderful little pond not far from my home, there is a very nearly entirely native populous of fishes. For a while I was pretty sure it was just pickerel eating pickerel in there. But then Noah, who lives even close confirmed there are golden shiners and bluegills, and I have since found pumpkinseeds. So, aside from bluegill, every species in that pond is one that is supposed to be there. Despite the descovery of other fish for the pickerel to feed on, they are oddly still the most abundant fish in the pond. Throughout the year I see vast clouds of young of the year pickerel, and hardly any other bait fish. It is very atypical for the apex predator species to also be the most abundant in a given body of water, but that seems to be the case here. And, as such, I find I do best with flies that look like juvenile pickerel.

I have caught more pickerel on the fly above in this pond than any other. And I don't mean that pattern. I mean that specific fly in the photograph. It is a dead ringer for a juvi pickerel, with some color and flash exaggeration. Of course that doesn't hurt when targeting members of the Esox genus. I find it especially deadly on a two hand retrieve.The fish just slam it. And such was the case on my most recent visit.

The air temperature was down and so was the water, and whereas I had found all the fish in the shallower NW corner of the pond on the previous trip, where the seem to stage to spawn, this time the fish were most concentrated in the slightly deeper NE corner. I had found them a bit "chasey" but not super willing to eat last time, and far more aggressive on the fly this time. That may seem counter-intuitive with colder water, but these fish aren't far from spawning. Spawning pickerel don't really eat, so it follows that the closer the water is to the ideal spawning temperature, the less likely they are to grab.

Every fish took while I was doing a two-hand. The most spectacular eat was, unsurprisingly, purported by the biggest fish. It waked on the fly from just moments after it it the water, swirled one it, them at it with gills flared and fins tucked in. I could see it clearly eve though it was 50 ft away. What a show.

With five fish to hand, it wasn't a bad little outing. I went back out later with different targets and less hospitable conditions. It was almost as successful. I may write about it, I may not. From the looks of it I won't be. There are a lot of fish to be caught and things to be learned this weekend.

If you enjoy what I'm doing here, please share and comment. It is increasingly difficult to maintain this blog under dwindling readership. What best keeps me going so is knowing that I am engaging people and getting them interested in different aspects of fly fishing, the natural world, and art. Follow, like on Facebook, share wherever, comment wherever. Also, consider supporting me on Patreon (link at the top of the bar to the right of your screen, on web version). Every little bit is appreciated! Thank you to my Patrons, Erin, David, john, and Christopher, for supporting this blog.